Sept. 19 – Irvine, CA. – U.S. GT Academy 2012 champion Steve Doherty, soon to race at Germany’s Nürburgring, talks with the Nissan Global Media Center’s Coco Masters about his path from gaming to driving in the Blancpain Endurance Series in Europe, while taking us for a few laps in the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3.

Missing out on the 2011 U.S. GT Academy qualification by just six-hundredths of a second, Doherty, now 30, was determined to realize his dreams of professional racing in 2012.

He did just that, beating 15 competitors to win a spot on the team – and a seat behind the wheel of a Nissan 370Z – at the 24 Hours of Dubai last January.

Originally from Illinois, Doherty has been playing Gran Turismo since 1999, and was an auto mechanic before becoming an endurance racing driver with Nismo.

Doherty will be a race camp mentor in the upcoming season of GT Academy and is looking to follow in the footsteps of Lucas Ordonez in making a meteoric climb from gaming to motorsports excellence.